Follow You
by sadielynn
Summary: The final goodbye between Ichigo and Rukia.


AN: This is my first Bleach story I hope you like it.

The minute he was able to process conscious thought he knew this day was going to be hell. He could hear his inner hollow mutter about rain, or about how he couldn't believe those self righteous bastards would do this to them. Ichigo had to admit he had a point, he had invested his strength his blood and sweat only to end up with a thank you but now we are going to seal your powers away if we need you we'll call. In twelve hours he would say goodbye to Rukia and he would have to go on with his life as a 'normal' human, whatever that meant. He remembered their argument last night and thought maybe their goodbye wouldn't be so sentimental after all, everything that needed to be said had already been said.

_Flashback_

"_Ichigo, we can take your memories away also?" She said quietly, and almost robotically. Her eyes seemed haunted, yet surprisingly dry._

"_You cant make me forget you Rukia," He said his voice low, almost as if it took all his might to get those simple words out. _

"_That's not we want, we want to help you find peace… after all if anyone deserves it, it's you." She said looking up at the stars. _

"_I don't get it, I don't get them, I don't get you. I have given everything for them, put my family in danger, my friends, and my own life and I don't even get to have the one thing I want. I fixed their mess and all I get is good job but now we really don't need you. Rukia I don't think I can do this, I … I just don't know how to give up." He said watching her intently waiting for her to fight for what they had. _

"_You have fought a lot of things that come your way but believe me you cant fight this, not this. You're alive I'm not how do you possibly fight against something that big," She said standing up and beginning to walk away._

"_Will I ever see you again?" He asked hoping she would turn and look at him._

"_I will always be there for you Ichigo don't ever doubt that, even if you cant see me or feel me, I will always be with you," She said quietly barely audible._

_End flashback _

He heard the doors open and watched Ukitake watch him sadly. He snorted and moved forward and readied himself to no longer be able to hear the two voices in his head. One would be a relief and the other would be like losing a part of his soul, which essentially is what it was. I few minutes later it was done, he had given up everything he had known since he was fifteen.

As he sat down and waited for Rukia to come by and leave he thought of his life. He would spend a few years pinning over Rukia, worry his family incessantly because of this. Then one day he would go on date with a sweet girl, most of the date would be spent comparing her to Rukia. He would date other girls, until he finally found one that tried to love him despite his broken heart. She would be pretty and smart yet in the end to him nowhere near to _her_. They would marry, she would be thrilled thinking the fight for his heart was over and she had won.

They would have three children whom he would love, they would be the only part of this other woman he loved, the only reason he stayed. They would be a boy and two girls whom he would tell stories about a man fighting for the love his life, against talented warriors with his every last breath. He would conveniently ignore their comments about the beautiful lady who sometimes talked to them at nights, writing it off as overactive imaginations.

And the years would pass and his wife would realize he never loved her, then she would start to hate him, she would yell and he will simply say nothing hoping to for this to end and for him to be able to leave to his room. Until inevitably they divorced and each going their own way, she to a new life and he to his memories of sad blue eyes.

In his sadness he would think about all the moments in his life where he felt her presence close to him. All the milestone events of his life he could feel her there watching, his graduation from high school, his graduation from college, his wedding, the birth of all his children. On his birthdays and on the anniversary of his mothers death, always a constant but never actually present. All the way up to his death when he was old and wrinkled, hoping to see her eternal face one last time.

"Ichigo?" Her voice said snapping him out of his thoughts. He watched her determined and angry.

"You cant do this. If you do you will make six people very miserable," He said standing up and glaring at her, he wouldn't allow his non existent children to suffer like that.

"Six people miserable what the hell are you going on about moron," She said frowning, sometimes she really worried about him, especially when he would say stupid things.

"Yes, you, me, my wife that I don't love, and the three children I have with her. Who you will come and visit at night sometimes," He said as if she should have known.

"What wife, what three children?" She asked looking around as if trying to find them.

"The three children I will have with the woman I marry, who by the way I don't love. Come on keep up I already told you this." He said, his voice unwavering.

"So you would rather your children don't exist, by staying with me," She said now getting angry that Ichigo would chose her over his children.

"No I was thinking about the three children that I'm going to have with the woman I love," He yelled back at her, she couldn't be so dense as to not understand that these where metaphorical children.

"Well what about your wife huh? You would just leave her like that?" Rukia shot back, they were both so busy yelling that they didn't notice Byakuya or Renji standing there watching them confused about their conversation.

"Well I think she would prefer being alone than having to live her life trying to fill your shoes," Ichigo said angrily, come on she had to see that he could never actually love someone who wasn't her.

"What the hell do you want, to die so that you can follow me?" Rukia asked her hands balled into fists. She had made up her mind. Why couldn't he respect her opinion for once in his life.

"Rukia I would follow you into the dark, the life that awaits me if I'm not with you is mediocre. Wherever you go will be close behind no matter what, just you and me our hands clasped tight," He said smiling as her resolve began to crumble and tears began to roll down her face. "There's nothing to cry about we will hold each other soon," He said smiling she reluctantly smiled and hugged him.

"What the hell is going on," Renji asked Byakuya quietly.

"Apparently Central 46 will get their new captain," Byakuya said turning and walking back to Soul Society, secretly grateful of this turn of events.

"That's a song you lousy cheater," Rukia said stomping on his foot once they stopped hugging.

"Yeah well it portrayed us perfectly," Ichigo said angrily rubbing his foot, still unaware that Renji and Byakuya had witnessed their conversation.

AN: Hope you liked it.


End file.
